Rep. Jason Altmire's campaign put out an internal poll today conduced by Democratic firm Anzalone-Liszt showing their man with a robust lead over Republican Keith Rothfus. The McCandless Democrat got a 60 percent favorability rating in the telephone survey of 400 likely voters in the district (the polling memo doesn't provide a margin of error), and 54 percent approve of the job he's doing.

Altmire, as we've mentioned before, has a significant cash advantage that's enabled him to go on the air with television ads, while Rothfus has relied on door-to-door campaigning so far. Putting out a favorable internal poll is usually a campaign tactic meant to combat the impression that your candidate is in trouble. In this case, it could be a warning to national Republicans that they shouldn't try to throw money into this race because their candidate is too far behind. Still, expect to see these numbers tighten as we get closer to Election Day -- and, as always, take internal polls with a grain of salt. The memo is here.